"Greatest Show on Earth" - World's Biggest Circus Calls it Quits

After 146 years it's final curtain call for one of the world's best known circuses, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus calls it quits after last shows in Providence (Rhode Island) on May 7th and Uniondale (New York) two weeks later. Owner Kenneth Feld made the announcement to employees on Saturday night (1/14) and posted a message on the circus' website. Several factors led Feld Entertainment, the owner of the traditional company, to make the decision

There were several factors who lead to the demise of circus: "There isn't any one thing," said Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment to the Associated Press. "This has been a very difficult decision for me and for the entire family." In his message on the website, he mentioned high operating cost, dwindling spectator numbers, who additionally dropped further after the RBBB decided to phase out their elephants, after being attacked by animal activists for over a decade. The different groups who accused the circus of mistreatment of animals had to finally pay the circus a settlement of over $ 25 million, but the damage was done.

This is really sad news - it's another chapter closing. Even though I never had a chance to see a RBBB show as I grew up in Europe, but for us kids it was always the highlight of the summer, when the circus came into town. After a visit, sometimes even with our school, we talk for days about the clowns, the daredevil acrobats or growling tigers behind the fence.


One of the even sadder things emerging from the different press articles about the curtain call, is that people would call in to see how long the show would last. The circus actually had to drop showtime to just a little bit over two hours and I guess because of missing attention span, it's longest performance number was just 12 minutes long, because today's kids had problems being calmly seated to watch the spectacle.

For a great overview of the history, on how P.T. Barnum became Barnum And Bailey, how Ringling Bros. formed and became dominant on the East Coast, while Barnum & Bailey were on tour in Europe and how they finally merged, visit the very informative Circus and Sideshows website, which has great information.

Sources: AP, www.ringling.com, http://www.circusesandsideshows.com/

Dumb, Dumber... Dumbest?

Sometimes reading the news, just leaves me shaking my head.
While investigating one story, I stumbled upon two other ones, through the same source, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer - "Crime scene" three times: Columbus, Georgia.

Too Drunk To Go To Jail

A 46 year old Columbus man, James Allen C., was arrested last week, after relieving himself in a local grocery store. Columbus police officer William Ragland told the Ledger-Enquirer that he was called in the middle of the afternoon to check on an intoxicated man at the local Piggly Wiggly. (No pun intended!)

The shirtless man was lying on the floor with his pants below his butt after he had urinated on the floor. After a melee with the suspect and being helped by a soldier from nearby Fort Benning, the police officer was able to arrest the man. Fortunately nobody was injured during the struggle.

“He was so highly intoxicated that the jail refused him,” Ragland told the Ledger-Enquirer and added: “He actually ended up spending several hours in the hospital having to sober up.”

Represented by a public defender, the man plead guilty to disorderly conduct while intoxicated, obstruction and possession of drug paraphernalia. The judge sentenced him to 30 days in Muscogee County Jail, suspended if he pays a fine of $250 on the conduct charge. The other charges were forwarded to a State Court and bond was set at $500 for the other charges.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

You know the saying "cling together, swing together" - well a 22 year old Valdosta, Georgia women, Karima T., may have to swing for a while on her own.

She got arrested early Saturday (1/7) after being left in a stolen car. The driver of the car is still unaccounted for, after he fled on foot leaving his passenger alone and ready to be arrested, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

The woman was charged with possession of 10 grams of cocaine, 16 pain pills and being in possession of a Taurus firearm during a commission of a crime. Police were quoted in the newspaper as putting the value of the drugs at $1,360

Stupid is: Getting caught with 26 bags of Marijuana

In the last case, the article didn't really elaborate on how things came down, but reading the charges against 38-year old Steven W., it's quite easy to put the puzzle pieces together.

He was arrested Saturday (1/7) afternoon and according to police reports, printed in the Ledger-Enquirer,  he "has been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Other charges were driving with a suspended license, improper display of a license plate and violating the alcoholic beverage open container law."

The cops either pulled him over, because of his "misplaced" license plate or because they saw him drinking while driving.

According to Georgia law, your license will be suspended for at least six months, if you are charged with a drug offense. so it is possible, he was charged before. As a repeat offender, he may be looking at several years behind bars now.

He got the distribution charge (felony) because he had the 19 grams of marijuana divided into 26 bags. Would he have had the pot in one bag, the distribution charge would likely not have been called. Also with "only" 19 grams, he had below an ounce (28 grams) of marijuana on him, which would have resulted in "only" a misdemeanor charge, even in a second or third case.

Even though the full names of the accused were printed, I abbreviated their last name, according to European standards, reporting about crime. Also all people are considered innocent until proven guilty.

Source: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Cover Photo: Tobi Toaster (Creative Commons) Article Photo: Alcatraz Prison Cell by Tim Pearce flickr (Creative Commons), drugpossessionlaws.com